The Cuddly Hawk
by YugamiYoshitsune
Summary: Written for a KM request. Shortly after getting together, Simon and Athena spend a lazy Sunday afternoon in bed after she insists that that's what rainy days are for. Cykesquill fluff.


The third weekend after they had begun their relationship, Athena invited herself over to Simon's apartment. He had stalled her from coming there so far, mumbling something about it "not being fit for receiving guests yet." After a bit of digging, she had found out that he had not yet managed to furnish most of it, seeing that he had been rather busy after his release.

Now that she was standing in it for the first time, she had to agree that it still looked rather barren – the only room that seemed like someone lived in it so far was the bedroom. There, however, Simon had apparently not skimped on his purchases – the bed was king-sized, the mattress was firm and yet very comfortable when she sat on it to test it, there were three large pillows, a warm comforter, and Egyptian cotton sheets, all in black.

She inquired incredulously, "Wow… you have this amazing bed, and yet you sleep at my place more often than not?"

Simon looked away. "It seemed more… natural to visit you, I suppose."

There was a bit of discord in his voice, and Athena asked in a softer voice, "Is it because you don't feel at home here just yet?"

His eyes widened slightly before he sent her a small smile. "That might be it. Even though I am at leave to freely come and go as I please, and the rooms are larger, I can't help but be reminded of…"

He did not need to finish the sentence for Athena to understand. _Prison. You don't feel comfortable being here by yourself._

She rose from the side of the bed and walked over to him, hugging herself to him. "Well, now that I'm here, why don't we have a bit of a lie-down?"

Truth be told, she _did _have an ulterior motive in her suggestion: Even though Simon had been released a full three months ago, he still did not seem to be resting enough, and while he apparently slept peacefully whenever he was staying with her for the night, which currently amounted to two to three times a week, the dark traces of his insomnia underneath his eyes were slow to fade.

Simon seemed a bit taken aback. "I _was _planning on going over a case file for my trial tomorrow…"

Athena's hands landed on her hips. "Oh no, Mr. Workaholic," she responded, looking up at him, her eyes flashing a challenge. "It's Sunday, the weather is miserable, and rainy days are made for spending some quality time in bed and cuddling."

She reached for one of his arms and pulled him along with her. "C'mon, it'll be cozy!"

He snorted. "The way you are insisting, it appears I have a choice between 'cozy' or else. Very well, then."

A moment later, they were both stretched out on the bed, facing each other. Simon smirked. "And now, oh Master of Relaxation?"

Athena scooted closer, her arms reaching up to encircle his neck, her face pressed into his chest. "How about this?"

She breathed in deeply. Today, Simon was wearing an old t-shirt rather than the starched and pressed formal shirts he favored on work days, which always made her feel a little like hugging some intimidating official rather than her boyfriend. This was much nicer – the fabric was soft and smelled ever-so-slightly of mothballs, telling her that it had likely been in storage since before his incarceration. However, the scent was faint enough that she could smell _him _underneath, a little bit of sandalwood scent from his shower gel, a hint of shaving foam, but otherwise just him.

Simon's hand began to card gently through her ponytail. "Are you _sniffing _me?"

His question sounded more than a little amused, and Athena giggled, but did not move her face away from his chest. "Maybe? It's not my fault you smell good."

She could almost hear the raised eyebrow when he asked back, "How so?"

"Um, it's kind of hard to explain… you just smell like you, I guess. Sort of… warm and comforting."

He chuckled under his breath as he pulled her closer to himself. "You are probably the only person who would consider my presence _comforting_."

That got her to move her head back to look at him. "Well, most other people don't know you as well as I do, so they don't know they're missing out. Too bad for them!"

Simon leaned in for a quick kiss. "Again, that's your perspective… although I don't suppose it is within my best interests to change your mind in that regard."

Now, Athena grinned at him. "You already tried that, and it didn't work."

After his exoneration, she had eternally tried to drag him places, telling him that now that he was free, he should see something other than the office and the dreary pay-by-week hotel room in which he had lodged the first few weeks. Simon had attempted to dissuade her by mentioning that he still did not have the best of reputations, exonerated or not, and did not wish to negatively influence her public image or her relationship with her colleagues. She had laughed in his face. Furthermore, she had insisted on him coming by for dinner three times a week, as the room had only featured a microwave rather than a full kitchen, and she had told him, "After seven years of prison food, you're gonna have some healthy meals, none of that TV dinner and takeout nonsense."

Three times a week had become five times by the third week of their reacquaintance. As Athena was generally done with work earlier than Simon, she had begun showing up at his office when it was time for him to leave, and they would walk to her place, talking about their day, sometimes stopping at the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner. Simon insisted on paying most of the time, staying her hand by pointing out that he had accumulated a tidy sum of backpay from the nine months during which he had worked even though he had been incarcerated, whereas Athena's salary was not particularly abundant. They would then prepare the food together most of the time, as he would not sit on her couch and watch her work after the first such invitation. This practice had continued even after he had found a suitable apartment, and Athena had known that this was not so much about the food as about the company. He did not want to be by himself, but, after everything that had happened, preferred the company of someone he knew he could trust.

Then, three weeks ago, while she had been standing at the kitchen counter, chopping onions and cursing under her breath when the vapors drove tears to her eyes. Simon had been working away on peppers and tomatoes next to her, but stopped when she began to mumble under her breath and reached up to wipe across her face. A moment later, his hand had caught hers.

"Don't, you have the juice on your fingers. If you touch your face now, you will make it worse," he had cautioned. Then, he had lifted his other arm, his thumb brushing the moisture underneath her eyes away.

Athena had stared up at him, noticing that there was a tiny hint of red high on his cheekbones despite her slightly blurred vision. When he had tried to turn away, she had stopped him, and a moment later, they had been kissing heatedly.

After they finally had drawn apart, Simon had smiled a little crookedly. "I have to admit, I did not see that coming."

Dinner had been a rather hasty affair that night.

Since then, only three weeks had passed, but to Athena, they felt both incredibly long and like no time at all. On one hand, as domestic as they had been with each other even before that first kiss, and as much as they had talked, it seemed like their relationship was lacking the initial anxiety and urge to impress new partners usually brought; on the other, being with Simon like _this _was incredibly new, given how long they had known each other.

During the first week, the lion's share of their after-dinner time had been consumed by sex, which had probably served to wear Simon out enough to where he had slept through the night. The second week, they had been taking it slightly more slowly, here and there spending part of their evenings either taking walks accompanied by Taka, or sitting in front of the TV, riffing the terrible prime time programming together and laughing their heads off. Then, too, he had been sleeping well whenever he had stayed over at her place, in spite of the fact that her twin size bed with its many pillows was a bit cramped for the two of them, particularly since Simon was so tall. However, he had never complained; instead, he had just snuggled closer to her, which hadbeen _really_ nice, and had proved that physical exertion was apparently not a requirement to get him a good night's rest. Still, every time he spent the night here by himself, he looked a bit drawn to Athena the next day, telling her that he had likely spent most of the small hours awake.

Well, now, she was here, and everything indicated that it was her presence which allowed him to rest, so rest they would. It would do both of them good, considering that tomorrow was the beginning of another work week, and as hectic as his schedule always was and hers _could _be when a case came along, this was a great way to recharge.

Athena turned in Simon's arms until her back was pressed against his chest, and let out a content sigh.

"This is really comfy… all we'd need now for everything to be perfect would be a pet to cuddle, something cute and fluffy, like a cat or a dog."

He chuckled lowly next to her ear. "I'm afraid I can't be of service in that regard, although…"

One of his arms let go of Athena to reach for one of the pillows, pulling it over until it was resting horizontally on the mattress right in front of her. She was tempted to turn around and give him a puzzled look when he balled his hand into a fist and pushed it into the middle of the cushion a few times, until he had created a dip in its middle.

"What are you doing?"

His heart betrayed his amusement. "You'll see. Cover your ear for a moment."

Athena only just managed to do so before he whistled sharply. A second later, the rustle of large wings parting the air came closer, until Taka landed on the pillow, looking at his master as if asking if he was allowed there.

"Taka, nest."

The hawk cocked his head sideways for a moment before lowering his body and shimmying into the soft material underneath him. Simon's hand reached out for the bird, stroking softly across his wing feathers. Taka emitted a soft clucking sound, which struck her as surprisingly at ease coming from the usually so fierce raptor.

"There you are. He isn't a cat or a dog, unfortunately, and you won't be able to hug him to you, but he _does _appreciate companionship and a good petting."

Athena laughed quietly as she carefully let her fingers run over the bird's head, who leaned into the touch.

"A cuddly hawk. Now I've seen everything."

She continued stroking Taka's plumage with the lightest pressure, enjoying the way the raptor let out small noises of satisfaction and closed his eyes as he appreciated the affection. Simon's solid warmth at her back and his arm wrapped around her chest lulled her into something resembling a trance, like being enveloped in a bubble of comfort and peace. After a short while, she could hear his breathing deepening, and knew that he was beginning to nod off.

_And you were gonna waste this perfect moment on work. Nuh-uh, not while I'm around._

From now on, Athena decided with a smile before she could feel her own eyelids growing heavy, they would do this every weekend, because there was nothing quite as cozy and tranquil as spending a lazy Sunday afternoon curled up with one's boyfriend and his surprisingly cuddly hawk in his preposterously awesome bed.


End file.
